Employee Profile: Courtney Gray Small
Sometimes life doesn’t go the way you anticipated. Courtney Gray Small, RN, knows this firsthand.
Courtney Small graduated from college on a pre-med track, but a series of life changes led her down a different career path. She worked in the airline industry in Indiana and drove by a children’s hospital every day.
“It felt like the hospital was calling my name,” said Small, “and I began asking myself why I never went to nursing school.”
So she pivoted. She returned home to DeSoto County and enrolled in nursing school at 29 years old, working part-time at a bank while taking classes. She graduated in December 2016 and began her nursing career at Baptist Memorial Health Care just two weeks later.
Small began her nursing career as a labor and delivery nurse at Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto. She spent much of that time working in the obstetrics emergency department.
“I really thought I didn’t want to work in labor and delivery,” she laughed. “I remember crying on my first day of clinicals because I didn’t want to go, but after just one day, I was hooked.”
In January 2022, she began working as an educator. Today, she’s an advanced nurse clinician, which means she’s the unit educator over the OB emergency department, labor and delivery, level II nursery and the mother/baby unit. She oversees ongoing education, certifications, licensures and is a general resource for doctors and nurses. She’s also an Epic “super user,” meaning she’s undergone comprehensive training to educate others about Baptist OneCare MyChart, the electronic health record system powered by Epic’s software.
When the hospital is short staffed, Small picks up day shifts in the OB emergency department.
“I live nearby, and I wanted to work at Baptist DeSoto so I could serve members of my own community,” she said, “but I’ve stayed here because of my Baptist colleagues. I have this sweet second family here, and I love them dearly. I trust every single person who works here.”
When Small was pregnant, her husband worked nights, and she relied on her Baptist family when she needed help. In fact, Small's colleagues were there to help deliver her baby.
“It was a rough delivery,” she said, “and I was supposed to be at Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women. I ended up in the emergency room here, and the ladies I work with every day took care of me. As soon as I was admitted, I knew I was going to be fine.”
Baby Charlie was born among his mom’s work family, inheriting a group of 102 Baptist “aunts” who loved him from the start. These women threw a baby shower for Small, visited her on maternity leave, snuggled her baby and joyfully welcomed her back when she returned to work.
“Everything about this job has been a gift from God,” she said. “I could ask anyone for help at any time of day. Labor and delivery is an intense department, and we are like one big, cohesive family. We respect one another and love what we do. I leave work and actually say, ‘I love you’ to my co-workers. How many people can say that about their job?”
Meet Courtney Gray Small
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